My original title for this post was My Top Not-Quite-100 Children’s Books That you may or may not have heard of That Should Be on Your Shelf or Bought for your niece/nephew/grandchild/any child in your life or even for yourself because children’s books aren’t just for children as evidenced by my growing collection of Mo Willems’ books.

Since that was too long – Not-Quite-100 will have to do.

I’m going to try and resist putting staples on this. Goodnight Moon, The Cat in the Hat, Runaway Bunny and the like. In the countless homes-with-tots I’ve entered, these are ALWAYS there. And there are so many other books out there that are just SO good for the grownup reader that will likely memorize said book and the tiny human that will request it over and over and over again.

Without further ado and in no particular order whatsoever

Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton and Tom Lichtenheld

This book was a favorite with one of my tots. See, Shark and Train are VERY competitive and challenge the other to see who’s best at important things like, selling lemonade or being quiet in a library. But as the challenges intensify and become more and more ridiculous, they (hilariously) realize things are getting out of hand. The illustrations are so amazing and just add to the antics. Pay close attention to the last shark vs. train challenge, grownups. It’s a treat.

There’s something I love more than reading – pizza and going to the theatre. Not the movie theatre – Broadway theatre. Musical theatre, specifically. Unfortunately, theatre tix are 500 times more expensive than a book & I’m not (insert obscenely rich person’s name here) so I go to as many shows as I can which never feels like enough. Last year, I made the really adult decision to obliterate my savings account and see 2 shows a month. Then in August of last year, I decided that I’d grow up….and save. A very painful decision. Then the Tony noms were announced and I realized that nine months had passed since I was in the presence of someone bursting into glorious song (excluding impromptu subway singers). Thanks to tax time (yay gov’t) there were funds available and tons of shows to choose from. I had just read that Bridges of Madison County was closing and I had never had the pleasure of seeing Kelli O’Hara in anything so there I went. And oh, how glad I am that I did. I saw the movie way back when and liked it well enough but I wasnt falling all over myself to see the musical. But there was something in my gut that said to go see it.

Fast forward to the day of the how – I was just really excited to be inside of the theatre, the ushers – theatergoers dressed to the nines and others in flip flops (seriously.). When the lights dimmed, I started to tear up a bit.

In short, Kelli O’hara deserves all the hype and more more more more. & Steven Pasquale is as gorgeous as he is talented. (Fun little anecdote: I was in line at the Barnes & Noble signing/performance for the cast CD and I was pretty peeved that I had to stand by the restrooms until hunky Steven passed by. A collective silence passed over the group of us when he passed by. Sigh)

I haven’t been this moved since seeing Once, also a bit tragic but different, softer, I’d say? Bridges is Once with the addition of its passion and tragedy on steroids. I was able to see Once SIX times and Bridges only…once. ):

Someone once told me that if I couldnt afford/see a show, to just listen to the Cast Recording because “it’s basically the same thing” and by George (Gershwin), it’s NOT the same at all. It’s a close second, third, maybe to being there. And I feel it most with Bridges OCR. The music just encapsulates the story, the passion in a way that I haven’t experienced before.

I find lately, that I enjoy hopelessly tragic musicals over the splashy/funny/slapstick-y ones. If I’m not violently sobbing when I leave, did I really enjoy myself?

For days after watching the show, I had One Second and a Million Miles on repeat. And now, as I type this, Kleenex box nearby, I can’t stop listening.

Blurb:

In the third book of the best-selling Pearseus series, the incessant scheming of the various players and their nebulous puppet-masters has brought about major change. Cyrus is now the new ruler of the Capital, struggling to fight Jonia’s revolt along with his own demons. Gella strives to keep abreast of Teo’s devious plans in order to end the war with Jonia. David returns to the First in an effort to overcome his loss of the Voice. Lehmor’s struggle to reunite with Moirah brings him to uncharted territories, where the enigmatic Iota play with minds, senses and the future of the entire planet.